In the past various autopilots have been manufactured for use in sailing yachts and are of a design that can easily be converted for yachts having either a tiller or steering wheel operation. All of these earlier units are either quite bulky in size or having individual components for mounting at different locations within the boat. For example, the electric motor used in these systems can affect the output of the magnetic directional indicator resulting in reading fluctuations. To overcome this, the magnet directional indicator or compass is physically separated from the autopilot for mounting in a different location in the boat whereby the interaction problem between the motor and the compass is alleviated. Although this provides a simple solution to the problem, it is not completely satisfactory in that two units must be mounted within the boat and at least one wire must interconnect these units.
Although the prior art systems do function adequately, they are unduely complicated to install and often awkward to use.
The present invention seeks to mitigate these short comings and provide a unit with improved operation characteristics.